It really seems that during the first year of the Nintendo 3DS’ lifespan we will be seeing a nice selection of ports coming to the handheld. One that many are heavily anticipating though is the new version of the PS2 favorite, Tales of the Abyss. The 3DS version is looking to add some new touch screen controls and is sure to have some 3D enhancements, but other than that, not much is known at the moment of just all the extra features that this version will hold.
Today Namco have decided to tease us all with an extremely short trailer showing off a tiny but of gameplay from the Japanese version of the game. Everything is certainly looking sharp, but as I said this clip is just made to make fans drool until the release finally drops on May 19th for Japan and hopefully sometime shortly after for the rest of the world. You can check out the trailer below for yourself and as more comes forward on Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS, we will be sure to bring it to you here so stay tuned.
Scarlet
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Release Schedule: Bi-monthly
Publisher: Icon Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics
Release Date: Book 1 (#1-5) coming July 20, 2011 – Preorder now at Amazon!
While the most popular comic books on store shelves are still those revolving around superheroes (seriously, there are more than 8 ongoing comic series starring Batman),Scarlet is a comic centered on a different kind of tights-wearing vigilante. I’m being somewhat facetious as my previous comment makes it sound like this is a story about some new type of superhero, when really by “tights-wearing” I just meant that our hero is just your average college-aged girl. Whether or not she actually wears tights is irrelevant; let’s just move on with the story.
Scarlet, our eponymous protagonist, is a young woman living in Portland, Oregon who has a problem with authority. Actually technically Scarlet’s problem is with corrupt authority: more specifically, police officers who have ceased to serve and protect the people. The premise of the series is that a terrible tragedy has befallen this once starry-eyed redhead and has propelled her along a path that most wouldn’t risk following. Scarlet’s boyfriend and first true love, Gabriel, is gunned down by a corrupt police officer and the whole event is reported by the media as a heroic effort by the police to rid the city of a teenage druglord.
The problem here is that Gabriel never sold any drugs, the offending officer wasn’t punished, and no one believed the truth. This is, in essence, what convinces Scarlet that the world is (in her words) “broken” and that something needs to be done. This is not a story of revenge, nor is it a story meant to brand all cops as pigs; this is simply a story about seeing through the bullshit and taking a stand against something. If you’re familiar with characters like V of V for Vendetta fame or Rorschach from Watchmen (both Alan Moore characters interestingly enough) then you probably have at least some idea of what our protagonist is feeling.
Scarlet begins a crusade to attempt to expose the corruption of the police to the people of Portland. She needs people to know what’s going on behind closed doors and she needs them to make their voices heard. For Scarlet, nothing short of a revolution will be enough to clean up her city, and that is precisely what she is hoping for. Portland is on the verge of an uprising thanks to Scarlet’s message, and both the police force and the FBI are working to catch this cop killing revolutionary.
There is bloodshed in Scarlet, although it is not the kind of super-bloodied action frenzy you would expect from something like Kill Bill. Like with most well-written comics, Brian Michael Bendis uses action and violence when it serves the story well rather than relying on it as a crutch. The real struggle in Scarlet is a mix between two conflicts. The first is the more obvious definition of the term: a young woman with no martial training attempting to stay out of jail and out of a coffin while taking down corrupt police officers. The second is her own inner struggle to overcome the harsh reality thrust upon her when her naivety was shattered, all while trying to be a symbol to the people that things can be made better.
This is the image that greets readers on page 1 of Scarlet’s first issue.
Bendis’s writing is superb. I was going to continue that sentence with some qualifiers, but I couldn’t think of any that were necessary. Scarlet is a dichotomy, depicted as both a cute, innocent girl who has just had her happiness stolen from her, and as a steadfast dispeller of political placation and media misdirection. This allows for some profoundly meaningful inner monologuing by Scarlet, who will more often than not address the reader in an attempt to explain why the system doesn’t need to remain broken. While Scarlet frequently breaks the fourth wall like the fan-favorite superhero Deadpool, it is less for the sake of comedy and more as a call to action. Scarlet is showing her story to you, to all of us really, in the hopes that people will stand up for their rights. The writing can be very deep, but it always sounds natural for a girl of Scarlet’s age and is surprisingly not preachy like some other vigilante stories.
There are also several supporting characters such as Federal Agent James Daemonakos and Police Detective Angela Going, the two investigators working to try to find Scarlet. These characters, however, don’t have a very pronounced role in the story just yet. I assume that they will both feature more heavily as the story continues, but Scarlet is much more heavily focused on in the early issues. A much more literal “supporting” character is Scarlet’s friend Brandon, who was also best friends with her slain boyfriend. Brandon watched after Scarlet and aids her in recording and distributing her message to the people. While he seems hesitant to participate in Scarlet’s brand of justice, and doesn’t personally get his hands dirty, he won’t let her go through this alone.
The art is similarly amazing, which is no surprise considering it is both drawn and colored by Alex Maleev, whose work on Halo: Uprising (also written by Bendis) is what made me check out Scarlet in the first place. The photorealistic style is uncannily lifelike and I really had my doubts at first that Maleev hadn’t just applied a filter to photographs of a hired model in order to create Scarlet and the other characters. If you’ve seen photos of Mark Vanderloo, the model on whom Mass Effect’s Commander Shepard is based, then you’ll understand where I’m coming from. The color is gritty and often washed out, much like you would expect to find in a story set in an unnamed grimy cityscape, with a splash of bright color here and there, especially in the case of the crimson hair of our aptly-named protagonist.
It is easy to forget that Scarlet Rue isn’t a real person thanks to Alex Maleev’s artwork.
One of the few criticisms I have about this series is that while Scarlet herself is impossible to miss thanks to her previously mentioned red hair, some of the other characters can be a bit difficult to distinguish between. I mostly encountered this problem with the police detectives and agents working to try to stop Scarlet and I would often need to flip back a few pages to remind myself who I was looking at. This isn’t helped by the fact that new issues of the comic only land on store shelves on a bi-monthly basis. To avoid confusion, allow me to clarify that this means that you can only get your hands on more Scarlet once every two months, and not twice a month as bi-monthly can sometimes mean.
While this is understandable due to Bendis and Maleev’s work on other ongoing series, it does make it difficult to remember what happened in previous books by the time a new issue is released. I found myself rereading each previous issue before starting a new one, and I didn’t really mind this as I greatly enjoy the series, but some might find it tedious. For those people, I would probably recommend picking up the trade books which will collect several issues at once. The first of these volumes will be released this coming July and will contain issues 1 through 5, which makes up the first story arc of Scarlet.
I would most assuredly and very enthusiastically recommend Scarlet to anyone. Whether you are a comic shop veteran or an outsider to the medium of sequential art, this is a great series to get into. Because it only started in 2010, there are only 5 issues to catch up on currently so there is much less backstory to read than in some of the longer running franchises out there. The more realistic nature of the story also probably makes Scarlet more accessible to potential readers who may be turned off by the inherent silliness of superhero comics, so this may be a good way to get reluctant friends (or you if you’re similarly reluctant) into comic books in general.
Thanks to its stirring take on vigilante justice and the teamwork of Bendis and Maleev, Scarlet (#1-5) gets:
The biggest news of the past week was, of course, the launch of the Nintendo 3DS. Many of our staff have taken quite a liking to this shiny new device, and are providing great insight into what this handheld can do. Our week was also sprinkled with some other games, although it’s hard to outshine the 3DS in this round. As usual, let us know what you’re playing too and don’t forget to welcome our newest editor, Adam Tabor!
Editor-in-chief: MasterAbbott
This week I’ve been super busy getting things organized with new writers/editors, and also making sure the site is functioning as it should be. I checked a lot of emails all week as well which has cut into my game time for the week. I did get stuck into Sacred Odyssey on the iPhone early on in the week, then on Thursday the 31st of March…I picked up my Black Nintendo 3DS and since then everything else I was meant to do has been thrown out the window. Emails have been piling up, and I’ve even stopped bothering the crew (who knows what sort of mayhem they’ve been causing in the office and on the site).
For the last few days I’ve been playing and testing out the 3DS. I did a 3DS unboxing video for anyone that doesn’t have it (check it out here). Games so far I’ve tested out include (VERY briefly) Chronicles Samurai Warriors from KOEI. This is quite an impressive title, graphically stunning especially the cut/movie scenes in the game. If you’re a fan of Dynasty Warriors series this is one title you should consider taking a look at if you have a 3DS. As you might already know, the 3DS has a lot of cool extra built-in features and games that can keep you busy for hours, from its 3DS Camera, Sound Studio, Mii Maker, Mii Plaza with Street Pass, the funny Face Raiders, and my personal favourite, the AR (Augmented Reality) games.
I could go on and on about the 3DS with its cool little pedometer that grants you the ability to earn play coins that you can spend in the Mii Plaza when playing Puzzle Swap and the SUPER cool StreetPass Quest that uses Mii’s that you find when you activate Streetpass. Okay, okay, I’ll shut up now; I’ve probably bored you all to tears with my constant rambling about how great the 3DS is. Oh by the if you’ve got a 3DS add me a friend my 3DS number is : 1805-2193-1145 😉
Till next week…play hard or don’t play at all!
Senior Editor: Travis Bruno
Well it is that time of the year when the winter season is ending and spring is just beginning. With that also comes the change in seasons for anime and that means that most of this week has been spent watching some great shows try to wrap up as best they could, especially To Aru Majutsu no Index. Then again with the spring season about to start there is a whole plethora of new things to watch. Other than that I picked up my 3DS on launch day here in the United States and have been quite busy playing Samurai Warriors Chronicles and Super Street Fighter IV 3D.
It seems that I have grown partial to using Ibuki as my main fighter but considering I haven’t played a Street Fighter game in some time nearly half of the fighters are new to me. Outside of the 3D realm I’ve been busy playing The 3rd Birthday that was released earlier this week. It certainly is as hard as I remember the original Parasite Eve games being but there have been so many changes to the game that it feels completely different. My week hasn’t been entirely filled with handhelds however; I’ve spent a decent amount of time on Crysis 2 and am having a really hard time feeling anything from the title besides being just another shooter with aliens in it.
Senior Editor: Jed Bradshaw
This week, I finally finished War for Cybertron. I love that game and I was so sad I had to send it back to Gamefly. In addition, I started playing Just Cause 2. It is pretty fun, but wow, that voice acting is bad….plus the controls are awful. However, plenty of explosions , creative uses of the grapple and fun gameplay make up for everything.
I also got really into Homefront‘s Battle Commander multiplayer, mostly trying to get the achievement for being a 5 star threat. I was able to get a 3 star (thank you, flying drone) but a 5 star is just too insane for me.
Finally, this week I played 3D Twist & Match for review (link here). Sanuk Games makes some great games like Pix’n Love Rush, but this game is boring. Its a simple puzzle game that will barely keep you entertained for a few hours. Moto GP 10/11 was also spinning in my PS3. Expect a review soon.
Senior Editor: Dustin Spencer
This week has mainly been all about the 3DS here. I have been working on Rayman 3D which is actually a decent launch title and enjoying it. It reminds me of playing a classic N64 platformer which to me at least is a good thing. I missed Rayman: The Great Escape the first time around, so when this review goes up, I wouldn’t expect to judge this title too much by its age as most seem to have done. Super Street Fighter IV has gotten a little bit of love as well, but I still have been using my standard DSi XL as I am also going through Okamiden and am nearly done with it now. It really plays and looks like the original, but for a DS game to stand on par with the PS2 I think that is a great to see. The story is actually a lot of fun to follow as well.
WWE All Stars has been a nice console game to play, but it has a few issues such as AI problems that need a patch. There really is nothing like watching Macho Man do a backflip straight on to a turnbuckle though and the game has a lot of fun moments so I have to give it a bit of credit on that. Other than that, I finished Monster Tale which was one of my favorite titles this year by far, you can check out the review as well which is now live on the site (link here).
Editor: Ben Webb
This week I finally got my 3DS device, so I’ve been playing a fair bit of that.
On the 3DS I’ve been playing through Super Street Fighter IV, I started on Very Easy difficulty and can now do Normal mode (which is strangely easier than Easy Mode). My fighter of choice is Cammy, as I’m a bit of a pervert and I also tend to go for the more militaristic units in fighters; for instance, in Bloody Roar my main fighter is Gado the Lion. Both Cammy and Gado have a similar feel to their play style (even if they’re from different games) so that’s why I think that I gravitated to her a bit more.
I’m also currently working through a few other titles on the 3DS which are surprises until I get the reviews out for them 😀
On the PC front, I’ve been playing some more QuakeLive as well as visiting other titles, such as Dragon Age 2, but at the moment I’m more concerned with getting these 3DS games reviewed.
Editor: Michael Irving
This week has been a busy work and uni week, so unfortunately my game time has been a little limited. As I was last week, I’m still playing Left 4 Dead 2 online when I get time, and slowly slogging away at Pokemon Black. One major problem I’ve encountered is that there are too many awesome looking Pokemon this generation, which makes it really hard to select only six.
We also had some mates over this weekend for drinks and my all-time favourite multiplayer game – Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This is the one game we’ve played fairly regularly since its release two and a half years ago, and it never gets old! I’m not into standard fighting games much, but I love the looser movement Smash Bros allows, jumping and running over huge stages; I love the randomness that items, weapons, and environmental elements add to the chaos; I love the unique health system, where rather than simply drain your opponent’s health bar, you raise their percentage, which increases their likelihood of being launched off the stage, but provides no guarantees you’ll defeat them. So someone with a massive percentage can still survive, if they’re awesome enough. And most of all, I love the way the game is essentially Encyclopedia Nintendica, with characters, stages, items, weapons, and trophies from all of Nintendo’s major franchises, together in one place. I cannot fault the game at all.
Editor: Kelly Teng
I’ve been slamming into LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars this week for review (check it out here), and to be honest, I am still having mixed emotions about it. It’s fun and a good laugh, but really the game is getting too frustrating for me to keep going onwards. It takes me far too much time for me to collect all the studs (I am obsessive about uncovering every nook and cranny in the game) and get all the unlockables.
Other than that, I reviewed the film Big Tits Zombie (if you really want to, check it out here)and I have to say I was not too impressed. Everyone else seemed surprisingly excited that I was reviewing this though, so I’m not too sure what the deal is with that. Films like this are great for laughing at, but I’m not too sure if there’s much more substance in them. In handhelds, I’m still Pokemon Black-ing it, and every spare moment I get I’m tackling Mass Effect 2. I’m excited for next week because I have a myriad of new DVDs and TV series to review, so stay tuned for more reviews of things (unfortunately for all those who love gore, there’s no more Japanese low-budget films). I’ve been missing my Top Spin 4as I lent it to a friend, and am thinking of buying FIFA 11 just to tide me over until he gives me back my game. Also, I’ve been majorly hooked on the Alchemy game on my HTC…I’ve only unlocked 60 of the 370 elements!
Also, who heard the news about L.A. Noire being selected for the Tribeca Film Festival? Eeeeek, this game is going to be huge!
Editor: Chris Cerami
I spent a lot of time this week playing the four Oddworld games included in the Oddboxx, the review of which was posted on Friday here. I also downloaded and completed Mass Effect 2’s Arrival DLC, which was woefully inadequate in my opinion. I beat it in one hour. One hour! Come on! On a brighter note, I finally beat Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask this week, something that’s been hanging over my head for literally a whole decade. It’s really satisfying because now the only Zelda game that I haven’t beaten is Zelda 2: Link’s Adventure. Finally, I played a bit of the co-op in Dynasty Warriors 7 which can be pretty fun if you just want some mindless fun and a body count in the thousands.
Editor: Jack Joly
Due to a totally MAD sale on the Xbox Marketplace, I blew a lot of Microsoft Points picking up games on the 1st April Sale. DOOM II, X-Men Arcade and Darwinia+ all got a look-in, as did another Xbox Live Arcade title not in the sale, Full House Poker. I’m really enjoying Full House Poker at the moment due to its casual style of play where you can just kick back and play some Texas Hold ’em, including last night’s Texas Heat event where I picked up a tidy total of 1,000,000 chips, coming 1st on the top table. Also on the Xbox 360, De Blob 2 and Warriors: Legends of Troy saw a bit of action.
Editor: Darren Resnekov
I have gone back to the Xbox 360 and am playing Halo Reach as iIbegan it ages ago and got lost and never went back to it. It’s a fantastic game with amazing graphics and gameplay. I’m playing it on the heroic level and enemies are at a good level of difficulty compared to many other games. I’m also playing Crysis 2 which is my benchmark game. I even found myself in Halo trying to kick over cars to use as shields. Crysis 2 is definitely the best FPS I’ve ever seen on consoles. I can’t get enough of that guy’s voice who does the weapons and cloaking shield. As always I’m playing Fifa 11 and getting beaten. Gave MLBShow a go but need more time to get into it as the controls are very sensitive
Editor: Adam Tabor
Hey, it’s Adam the new guy. Just found out we do this thing where we talk about video games we played…but who plays games right? Okay, so I’m full of it and its 2:08AM and I got to make this out so here we go. Let’s start out with the Moon Diver demo on PSN. It’s a fun little game: think of it as a fast multiplayer Strider with a heavy anime overdose in the art department. I might snag it when it comes to 360. Also played the Mortal Kombat demo with a friend and well I think I’m good with the most hated character in the game, Mr. Johnny Rage….I mean Cage (I just think that’s a cooler name, that’s all).
Also I’ve been doing a lot of portable stuff this week. On the iPhone I picked up Fast Striker for $5 and then it dropped to 99 cents the next day which kind of made me a bit disappointed. Fast Striker is a top down bullet hell game that is a lot of fun but I rather play its Dreamcast counterpart. Also I picked up Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy; I’m not too far in it but I loved the first one and I’ll like this one and it gives me nerdgasms. Yeah, I just made it up – 10 EXP for creativity and 15 gil. Also played the prologues which cost me $3 and that was dull. I did get Aeris as an assist character though, so yay for me. Also this past Sunday I picked up my Nintendo 3DS and have been playing a lot of the stuff on it. I picked up Super Street Fighter 4 and Ridge Racer. Those games are quite fun and anyone who loves either games will appreciate it. Also this was my first Ridge Racer game and well I’m hooked into it.
Well, what’s up next on the games plate who knows? I want to finish Final Fantasy XIII…if I actually get to playing it is another story.
Starting on the 9th of April and going until the end of the 17th of April, 2011, will be an opportunity for a group of gamers to appear in the next commercial for Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii.
Gamers will be competing in Mario Kart Wii with Nintendo’s film crew capturing the action around two locations in Australia. These locations are the Melbourne Experience EBGames and the EBGames in Ultimo on Bay Street. Nintendo says that the best way to get noticed and put in the commercial will be to bring a group of family and/or friends to the event.
All you have to do is grab your family and friends and get down to one of two locations in Melbourne and Sydney from 9 – 17 April 2011.
This looks like it could be a promising event and possibly a foot in the door for anybody interested in appearing on television.
Up until now, the release date of Battlefield 3 has been a mystery, other than a broad ‘Fall’ label disclosed by publisher EA.
But now, a release date has been spotted on EA Download Manager, naming 2nd November as the game’s special day. While this can’t be completely confirmed at this stage, it looks like this should at the very least be an accurate indication of the time period it will be put out.
The date could shift around a bit due to changes relating to different regions. The 2nd November is a Wednesday, which would make it at odds with the usual US release date day of Tuesday, whilst major games like this usually hit Europe on a Friday.On the other hand, for such a big release a worldwide ‘event’ release date wouldn’t be completely out of the question.
A brand new developer diary for the upcoming movie tie-in game Thor: God of Thunder has been hammered out by publisher Sega. In the video, members of the development studio talk about the different ideas circulating in their minds when making Thor and those that are making their way into the final product.
The developers state that the vision for Thor was to bring the comic book to life with an authentic portrayal of the comic book hero. They want you to feel the power in your hands when controlling Thor, using his lightning attack and clattering enemies.
Check out the full behind the scenes developer diary below. Thor: God of Thunder comes to retail on 5th May on PS3, 360, Wii, DS, 3DS, PC and PSP.
Genre: Horror, Action, Comedy Produced by: Concept Films Director: Takao Nakano Starring: Sora Aoi, Io Aikawa, Tamayo, Risa Kasumi, Mari Sakurai Tag Line: Strippers vs. the Undead! Running time: 73 minutes Language: Japanese with English subtitles Available for purchase at: Madman Online Store ($29.95), Amazon US ($25.69), Amazon UK (£5.93)
Overview
Let’s get things straight: the Japanese are in love with low-budget films, gore and sex. In fact, there should be a genre called “Japanese low-budget film” since there are so many of them in circulation these days. These “Japanese low-budget films” love overdramatized acting, simple plotlines, and lots of blood, guts, and women, and have become a popular trend with cult fans who want to get their kick of comedy, horror, and sexual arousal all in one.
I suppose, then, that it’s fair to say if the Japanese low-budget film is a genre, Big Tits Zombie is its flagship movie. The film features anything and everything you’d expect: swords, guns, chainsaws, zombies, Gothic Lolita, and of course, breasts. If I look at it from a filmic perspective, the film is absolute rubbish. If I try and take anyone else’s perspective, though, the film is absolutely genius.
Plot
With a name like “Big Tits Zombie”, it’s pretty obvious the writers and director Takao Nakano weren’t going for an Oscar in scriptwriting. The film follows Lena Jodo (Sora Aoi) and her four colleagues as they work in the unpopular strip joint, Paradise Theatre. One day, after having no customers again, the girls uncover a secret doorway in their dressing room which leads down to the Well of Spirits. One of the strippers opens up a book they find entitled “The Book of the Dead” and opens a gateway for dead spirits (a.k.a. zombies) to escape into the world of the living. The film follows the strippers as they fight the zombies and attempt to stop them from killing everyone in their area. As usual, there are a few surprises in the storyline and plenty of funny moments to break up the chain of gore and breasts.
There is no real contextualizing of the story and no proper conclusion – with the film clocking in at 73 minutes, there was really only time for the storyline, a lot of fighting, and a poorly wrapped up conclusion which is partly funny but mostly just inconceivable. To say the least, the plotline is ridiculous and straightforward, but it’s everything I would expect from this kind of movie. However, I can acknowledge that most audiences who watch films like this definitely aren’t in it for the complex narrative with myriads of plot turns and secondary narratives. Instead, the storyline takes a back seat and is really just an excuse to throw together zombies, women, and action into the same story.
One part I say I have to appreciate was that director Takao Nakano and the scriptwriters at least were aware of how bad the film was. My favourite line from the entire film would have to be when the strippers are watching TV and confused about what the movie is, and Lena says “it must be a cheap movie, they’re popular lately – like some girl fighting zombies with a cheap sword.” That redeemed the film a little bit in my eyes, because it really was a clever line which sums up the entire culture of these films in Japan at the moment.
Characters
The main characters – or should I say, the main strippers – are Lena Jodo, the money-hungry Darna (Io Aikawa), Gothic Lolita girl Maria (Mari Sakurai), tough girl from the streets Ginko (Risa Kasumi), and their mentor Nene (Tamayo). I should mention something now that will probably help Big Tits Zombie sell more copies than I would like: Sora Aoi and Risa Kasumi are both notorious in Japan’s adult video business, and they’re the ones who end up taking their clothes off. Other than that, the characters are a mix of good and bad acting, and ironically it’s the ones who take their clothes off that probably are the best actresses.
Lena, the unlikely heroine, is actually my favourite in this movie. Sora Aoi is charming and funny, and her background in adult video really helped her fully flourish in the role of Lena. She’s the typical strong yet girly type, with a good sense of humor and a lot of feistiness under her belt. The best moments are when Lena cracks some sarcastic comment, or when she wakes up in the morning next to the ugliest man ever and makes a quick attempt to run out of his bed. Other than that, Ginko is probably another likeable one for me: she’s the silent, brooding one who has a bit of a tainted past. She’s probably the character with the most depth, and I have to say that her backstory is a little intriguing and was a good move by Nakano.
The most irritating one by far was the Gothic Lolita girl, Maria. While I understand that the Lolita look is very popular in Japan, it didn’t make up for her incessant need to constantly spit out quotes from Shakespeare and Freud. Nakano seemed to believe that adding these into the script would give her character that lyrical and mysterious quality, but it really just made her frustrating and confused the entire flow of the film.
I should probably also add that none of these girls seem to know how to strip. While they’re great at catfighting, their stripping looked like a strange mix between a rodeo, a ‘90s porn film, and those dance moves you never want to see in a club. Apparently Tamayo choreographed the entire stripping sequence and the girls had to learn how to dance, but it’s my thought that their dancing was akin to that of a 13 year old girl at a school disco.
Visual and Audio
If this is truly a Japanese low-budget film, then one of the conventions is horrible special effects. Of course, Nakano didn’t have enough money to really create beautiful animations – instead, he settles for cheaply produced backdrops, bad makeup, and unsynced audio. However, I’m thinking probably makes up for it with his costume design – which is pretty much just underwear – and really hits the spot for his demographic on that one.
The backdrops and fake blood and gore were definitely the most obvious effects-on-a-budget. There are a few moments in the film where Lena and Ginko are in a setting where Mount Fuji is visible in the distance, and it’s clearly just two actresses standing in front of a big screen with images of the mighty Japanese volcano. The blood and gore can be so bad it’s funny; when Nene gets bitten by a zombie she goes into zombie-lesbian mode and flames and teeth emerge in a place where no man would ever hope to see teeth. Also, the makeup on the zombies is just green face paint and a few pieces of browned bandages across their faces. However, I do have to give props to Nakano for the chainsaw Lena uses throughout the film: it was made out of rubber, but I really couldn’t tell the difference.
The sound effects were poorly done, but the audio was decent. While sword and chainsaw noises were barely synced up with the correct movements, the choice of including some female J-rock was a good one. The female J-rock gave the film an action feel that still correlated with the storyline and suited the spunky heroine’s attitude…and of course, it ended up getting stuck in my head.
DVD Extras
The DVD comes with a Making of Big Tits Zombie special feature, which was really interesting to watch because the actresses introduce themselves to the camera and say a bit about what they thought of the film and their characters. The director also talked a lot about the effects behind the film and the adaptation from the manga Kyonyu Dragon, and there were plenty of shots showing how the scenes were filmed. Of course, the theatrical trailer and Madman Eastern Eye trailers are also in the extras.
I should also add that the film does have a 3D option, and the DVD comes with two pairs of 3D glasses for anyone who would like to see breasts and blood in the third dimension. It’s not exactly well-made though (why didn’t Nakano spend the money on making the film slightly better?) and in all honesty it’ll probably just hurt your eyes more than it’ll entertain you.
Final Comments
I’m not going to lie…I really didn’t enjoy this film, but there were some redeeming qualities which made it slightly less painful to watch. The sense of humor can be a bit strange in some places and hilarious in others, but overall the film can be great for a night where you just want to watch something trashy. I’m going to say that ladies should watch this at a sleepover with a massive pitcher of some sort of alcohol, and anyone else should watch this if they like Asian girls, breasts, or gore.
I have had my Nintendo 3DS for nearly a week now and I have loved nearly every second of it. The 3D actually works great, the AR technology is really a sight to see, and the system itself has a nice new interface that is really sharp and impressive. My only problem personally has been one thing that it seems that many who have the 3DS are experiencing, the dreaded “Black Screen of Death”. How do you know if you run upon this annoying error? Here is my experience with the error and what you might be able to do with preventing it.
Just what is the Black screen of Death?
First thing you should know is that this is the worst name for an error I have ever heard of. The error WILL NOT brick or kill your system. What happens is during certain titles (usually third-party titles to be exact), the 3DS will just go completely black with this image popping up on the bottom screen:
No one is quite sure of the cause as of yet and the cure is as simple as following the instructions to actually reboot the system, but I have found it coming back on a regular occasion, especially during Rayman 3D and Super Monkey Ball. It is very annoying, but by no means is this a reason to return that 3DS just yet as the villain in this case just might be a firmware update.
Updating
Last week Nintendo released an official statement after this error started popping up across systems nation-wide that the best thing to do was to simply update and the problem should be solved. Well, my problem is I didn’t even experience any errors whatsoever until I actually updated to start with, and based on conversations I have had with the staff here at Capsule Computers as well as other owners of the system, this update just could be the actual cause.
Some though are stating they have had this bug from the start though without even updating which really confuses the situation of just what the root of this problem could could be. The main problem though is the crowd looking in on this situation seem to be inflating this bug to be the system killer of the 3DS, which it is not. It is however very annoying to play a game for more than an hour and lose all data due to a glitch, so something should be done, and hopefully soon.
So I got it…What do I do now?
Playing your 3DS and enjoy it for what it is now is really all anyone can do at the moment. If this really upsets anyone too much, send an email to Nintendo Support, call their hotline at 1-800-255-3700 and try to not let it get you down. First party Nintendo titles as well as Street Fighter IV 3D do not seem to be having any problems whatsoever, so my best advice is to just wait patiently for the inevitable update to come through and soon enough, this will be just a thing of the past. Also try to remember that the 3DS is barely a week old now and it does take a bit of time to fix these things.
I was honestly a bit rash with this and took my system back before doing my research, got a brand new unit, ran a system update, and got the same error again so it does really look to be just a glitch in firmware. Learn from my goof-up on this one, DO NOT RETURN YOUR SYSTEM.
Many are also reporting that switching off Wi-Fi completely eliminates the problem as well, so that is another easy fix for those wanting to play some of the reboot heavy titles that this bug seems to effect.
Hopefully this is just a minor issue and Nintendo seem to know about it fully, so it is only a matter of time before we see some kind of a fix for it. Stay tuned as we will be following this more and once a newer update rolls out, we will be sure to let you know.
April first is always an exciting day for games news – and April second is always a disappointing one, as we once again realise we’ve been had. While the gaming press is becoming increasingly suspicious to report any news around this date as fact, some are just too damn exciting, or hilarious, to ignore.
Here’s a quick roundup of some of the best fake news we received in the last few days.
Popcap’s Gaming Microwave
Thought Cooking Mama wasn’t interactive enough? Popcap, the undisputed master of puzzle games, announced they were working on a games console, the PlayWave. The machine would essentially be a microwave with a built-in touchscreen for gaming on the door, preloaded with Bejewelled.
Their press release stated that “the 19 litre, 1,000 watt PlayWave will come with 167mb storage capacity as standard and will be able to connect wirelessly to the internet. In addition to the ‘full power’ and ‘defrost’ settings, the PlayWave will also have a ‘playtime’ setting, which will cook the food according to the player’s performance in the game.”
They also announced a second console in development, for gamers who feel trips to the toilet are unwelcome distractions from gaming. But this toilet game console was apparently delayed: “due to complications arising from the curvature of the toilet touchscreen, PopCap do not expect to have a prototype of Play-n-Poop until early 2012.”
Starcraft Motion Overdrive
A company with so many over-sensitive, obsessive fans should be cautious when announcing fake new titles, but that didn’t stop Blizzard from getting in on the spirit of the day. On Friday they announced that Starcraft, arguably the pinnacle of PC gaming, was returning to consoles, with full Kinect capabilities, in Starcraft Motion Overdrive. The RTS action would be apparently be controlled with vague, melodramatic arm waves and swipes. That might spice up the Korean tournament broadcasts.
Halo Dance Central
US games news site 1UP posted a video of their staff playing an early version of Microsoft’s relentless Halo series’ supposed Kinect debut, Halo Dance Central. Featuring such dance moves as “The Rage Quit”, “Melee the Grunt”, and “Teabag ‘Em”, that would actually be a dance game I’d play.
Pokemon Kart
Again from 1UP, the animation on this trailer for a Mario Kart-esque racer set in the Pokémon universe should have rung alarm bells, but apparently some 1UP staff members – and raging forum posters – were convinced of its authenticity. The trailer shows Pikachu racing a terribly off-model Bulbasaur on PokéBall go-karts. Relief is the correct emotion for the reveal that this was a joke.
X-Rated Studios’ Kama Sutra: Connected
Who says that video games are bad for your sex life? Berlin’s X-Rated Studios announced that their first title was to be a Kinect/Move game based on the ancient Hindu text, the Kama Sutra. It would provide “practical advice on sexual intercourse and behaviour”, in the form of full-body-controlled mini-games. This actually sounds like a fun idea, but I’d probably stick to something a little less awkward during drinking/gaming nights with mates.
Twisted Pixel’s Gunstringer Marionette Peripheral
Twisted Pixel are fast making a name for themselves as makers of games with a distinct sense of humour, with titles like ‘Splosion Man and The Maw being stronger in the humour department than in the gameplay. So it seems natural that they would get into the April Fool’s spirit, and announce that players of their upcoming IP, The Gunstringer, can purchase the awesome Marionette Handle peripheral, an authentic pine round dowel, which “truly ushers in a new era of controller-free controller gaming”. Basically a stick with The Gunstringer logo on it, it would allow players controlling the on-screen puppets to feel the tactile wooden pleasure of real marionette work.
Useless as it would be, I guarantee that if they were to actually release these, they would sell. After all, Nintendo’s plastic tennis racket and golf club attachments for Wii remotes were pretty useless – and they were real.
Dudebro II’s pre-order DLC
I wouldn’t be surprised if Grimoire Assembly Forge later announce that their upcoming game itself is fake: a title like Dudebro: My Sh*t Is So F*cked Up I Gotta Shoot/Slice You II: It’s Straight-Up Dawg Time screams too awesome to be true. But no, the game itself wasn’t the prank, it was the hilarious bonus DLC available with the pre-order.
Pre-orders for Dudebro II placed on Friday gave customers the choice of one of five exclusive gameplay modes:
* The DoughBro Suit would give your character a huge pot belly, repelling all bullets fired into him from the front.
*The FrogBro Suit would give the character the unique ability to jump on your enemies’ heads! Never before seen in games. American players would get FrogBro Suits with angry eyes, “for added badassery.”
*The Nostalgia Cam would shift the game from its standard top-down view to an old-school sidescrolling camera.
*Beer Goggles Mode would give the screen a brownish tinge, and make all your enemies appear as the hot chicks the player is aiming to rescue.
*And finally, players could unlock Equal Opportunities Mode, where you instead take control of a “strong, independent woman”, combating the sexism apparent in most fighting games. Of course, the woman can’t actually fight, and players must rely on four supporting Dudebros to handle the manly work.
Aah, satirical sexism. The games industry needs more of you.
Duke Nukem hurls poo
Yep, the latest trailer for the Duke’s notorious next adventure has him hurling his own stools at his enemies. And… oh wait, this one is REAL!! This may undo some of the credibility the games industry has worked so hard to achieve. Have a look.
Gnome Chompski: The Game
While this one wasn’t technically an April Fool’s joke, it still contained the same emotional reaction: “Oh my god, this is gonna be awesome!”, followed by disappointment with the realisation that it’s fake.
Apparently made using Gary’s Mod, or maybe just the Source engine, this fan-made trailer gives Gnome Chompski (the garden gnome from Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Left 4 Dead 2) a starring role in his own game. Fighting zombies and dinosaurs with the notable handicap of having no arm movement, this video is too awesome to describe. You have to check it out yourself (below). I really hope this is what Valve has secretly been working on, if they’re never going to finish Half-Life2.
Moto GP 10/11 is the latest game in the annualized franchise published by Capcom. Aiming to take you down the track of realistic super bike racing, the best comparison to make is that this game strives to do for motorcycles what Gran Turismo did for cars. The goal of the game is to compete in races across the world and become the next big name in motorcycle racing. Think you take on the challenge and be a pro?
Starting out in career mode, the game asked me to create a team name. Hence, the Jedinator team was born. Customizing bikes, appearance and picking a home track was the next item on the agenda. If your dream is to build the ultimate bike, then this game will be like heaven. From struts to tires and shocks to gearing, there is literally no option you can’t tweak, no equipment piece that can’t be tuned to your heart’s perfection. Being that I’m not much of a “mechanic” guy, I found it a bit overwhelming, but most gamers will appreciate the immense options available . Of course, if you want mess around with colors and styles, you can do that too, although there are not quite as many options available to you in this area. All the color schemes for the bikes and rider costumes are preset. There are many different presets, but the failure to include the ability to create your own designs is a real downer.
Heading down to the racetrack and just getting started, like I did, is also a viable option . I chose the easiest difficulty level, Gentle, when doing this. This turns all the assists on, helps stabilize the bike and it shows you where the best racing line is. There are at 4 other difficulty options available, and these range from turning some of the assists off to turning everything off, making the AI tough and trying to give you the most realistic, simulated biking experience possible.
So there I was, representing team Jedinator and about to start practicing for the first race of my career. The starting lights & sounds finished up, and I gently pressed the accelerator. Initially, I thought I was doing pretty good. And then I hit a corner. Even though I slowed down, I went off the side of the road. After a few hours of this, I gradually got slightly better at the game, but I’m afraid I am just not cut out to be a racer. I was constantly wrecking or driving off the track. If your a casual racing game fan, you may want to try to the game out as a an entry into the hardcore videogame racing arena, but be cautious . It will more than likely take a bit to get the hang of all that the game has to offer, even when all the assists are turned on and the all to helpful tutorials and voice overs are helping you. On the other hand, the gamers who live on the bread of simulated racing will be right at home with this game; this is built for them.
Besides career mode, there is the option to create your own championships customized with track choice, laps and whether this is to be a single event or tournament. Multiplayer functionality is also present in the game, and you will be to play via split screen or online.
One feature I didn’t expect to be in the game was secondary objectives. However, these were in the game, and they offered a brief respite from merely trying to jockey for position. Sometimes secondary goals consisted of trying to set speed records on a certain part of the track. Other times, the goal was to to pass another rider within a certain time. There were quite a few to complete, and when completed, you would get more points to spend on customizations for your bike.
One other really cool trait in the game is the opportunity to rewind for about a minute during any part of the race, thus allowing you to perfect your racing line or avoid a crash. Its too bad though that this option is buried in the menus, and not hot keyed to a a face button. In addition, rewinding more than a minute would be great.
After every race, you can view a video of your performance, and all the rewind, fast forward, pausing buttons, etc. are included. Nonetheless, I did not see any options to upload videos to a server for others to view. In fact, there were not even any options to save them locally on a hard drive. No pictures could be taken & saved either.
Other than just simply creating a racing game though, the career mode also tasked you with being famous. In order to do this, you can sign sponsorships and the like. To get the big bucks through sponsorship though, you have to be a pretty good racer. Hiring others to do PR work is a valuable way to earn a fortune, get money and be famous. So, in a way, the game strives to give you the whole enchildada in terms of a racing career. Nevertheless, one item i would like to see improved is the addition of more elements of racing culture . That is, instead of just providing statistics and making it all data, there should be more of a story and emotional component to the game. For example, at the beginning of every race, there are film crews, bikini clad girls and pit crews. However, at every race, they are the same people, performing the same generic animations, and they feel like they were just put in there as an obligatory gesture. The stadiums are also filled with bland, barely discernable fans that have a standard “bustling crowd” soundtrack. It would set a new bar in sports games if next years iteration of the game would expand both of those elements. Perhaps they could have you actually meet and talk to fans or sign autographs. Instead of seeing the same people at the start of each race, maybe it should be possible to flirt with these models and choose them yourself (just throwing out ideas here. )Another way to improve upon the game is to have the option to perform side missions as these characters, like performing the job of the cameraman. One final change that could be made is to actually be able to meet your PR reps and the people you hire, and this would enable you have a much better grasp on what these people do. This may upset some fans of the game if they put these options in the game, but there should be an option to choose between the classic career mode and the “enhanced” mode. Regardless if they make these changes or not though, this years game it is still a great racing game that will fulfill your speed addiction.
As long as we are on the subject of improvements to the game, lets talk about the graphics. Not to say that they are bad, but they are also not spectacular. There just there, functional, but not enough to truly put you in the experience. Grass, rocks, and other surfaces, plus people and signs, could use a graphical overhaul to compete with this generation of games. You’ll probably be speeding along so fast that you won’t notice this shortcoming most of the time, but is a an area of the game to consider making better.
Graphics may not be the best, but audio in the game is praiseworthy. A variety of music will help keep the adrenaline pumping as you scream around the track doing 150mph. The voiceover work was also done well, and the guy doing it didn’t just sound like he was reading lines. He genuinely sounded like he cared about your progress in the game, and he felt like the person he was, not some robotic voice that would have been incredibly annoying. Other sounds in the game, like engines, sounded like they were supposed to, although I am no expert on such areas.
One final compliment for the game is that the loading times are extremely fast. It only took a few seconds to load up any of the tracks or modes, and menus were loaded very quickly as well.
Moto GP 10/11 tries to appease newcomers, but it caters much more to hardcore racing fans; if your thinking about a purchase, consider a rental first to make sure that the sim-like nature of the game is what you want. Overall though, this a great game at a budget price, even though the game begs to continually be innovated upon. I know I am kind of stretching it with the “expanded universe” ideas, but it is true that this racing game could be a game that sets a new bar for other sports games, even in areas that most of us may not have thought about yet. Yet, the fact remains that if you can forgive the graphical shortcomings, there is nothing wrong with the actual game. Hopefully, they can continue to expand the game and make it as good as the car simulation games, because quite frankly, motorcylces are so much more awesome than cars, right?
